Jon Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American musician, bandleader an… Read Full Bio ↴Jon Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American musician, bandleader and TV personality. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music (Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, Lenny Kravitz, Ed Sheeran, and Mavis Staples), released recordings consistently since 2005 and performed in more than 40 countries. Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them nightly as Bandleader and Musical Director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Batiste also serves as the Music Director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem.

Career:
Jon Batiste was born in Kenner, Louisiana, into a long line of musicians, including Lionel Batiste and Harold Battiste. At the age of 8, he played percussion and drums with his family's band, the Batiste Brothers Band. At his mother's suggestion, he switched to piano at the age of 11. Jon developed his piano skills by taking classical music lessons and transcribing songs from video games such as Street Fighter Alpha, Final Fantasy VII and Sonic the Hedgehog.

At 17, Batiste released Times in New Orleans. He attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Trombone Shorty and graduated in 2004 before going on to receive a bachelor's and master's degree from the Juilliard School. While at Juilliard, he released his second album Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art, and by the end of 2006, had been a featured performer in South Africa, London, Lisbon, Spain, Paris and the United States.

In 2007, Batiste made his debut at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam at the age of 20, both producing and performing his own show. He conducted music clinics, classes and workshops throughout Netherlands in inner city schools and underprivileged neighborhoods. He was invited back to Carnegie Hall to produce and perform in his own show including six young musicians from the Netherlands. The performance concluded with a finale he composed for choir, jazz combo and orchestral instruments. In the year following, Batiste released a number of music projects including Social Music (2013) which spent over a month at the top of the Billboard and iTunes jazz charts, "The Late Show EP" (2016) with Stay Human and a holiday album "Christmas with Jon Batiste" (2016). In 2017, he released the singles "Ohio" with Leon Bridges and Gary Clark Jr. as well as "Battle Hymn of the Republic" for The Atlantic. Batise's debut solo album Hollywood Africans was released under Verve Records in September 2018. "Don't Stop" served as the lead single. Leading up to the album release, Batiste completed a Summer Festival tour across the U.S. with The Dap-Kings.

Batiste's notable career performances include a tribute to Chuck Berry and Fats Domino during the 60th annual Grammy Awards (performing alongside Gary Clark Jr.), the Kennedy Center Honors in tribute to Carmen De Lavallade, the Concert for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama as well as the National Anthem at the 2017 NBA All Star Game and Opening Night of the 2017 US Open. He has curated the Global Citizen Advocacy Concert with Tom Morello and the Louis Armstrong Wonderful World Festival in Queens, N.Y. Batiste is currently signed with Mick Management.

Stay Human.
In 2005, Batiste began performing regularly around the New York music scene with his Juilliard peers, bassist Phil Kuehn and drummer Joe Saylor. He later added Eddie Barbash on alto saxophone and Ibanda Ruhumbika on tuba. Batiste named the band Stay Human, which draws its moniker from the belief that human interaction during a live musical performance can uplift humanity in the midst of the "plug in/tune out" nature of modern society. The band leads impromptu street performances, which Batiste calls "love riots."

In 2011, Stay Human released the album MY N.Y., which was recorded in its entirety on New York City Subway trains, an idea that came to Batiste after questioning how to connect with people.

On April 22, 2017, the band played for the March for Science rally at the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.

Television and film:
In 2014, Batiste and Stay Human appeared on The Colbert Report to perform the group's single, "Express Yourself", written and produced with Austin Bis. On June 4, 2015, it was announced that the group would serve as house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The show premiered on CBS on September 8, 2015. On the show, Batiste and Stay Human have performed alongside Billy Joel, Will Smith, Wynton Marsalis, John Legend, Grace Vanderwaal, and Nas.

Batiste was cast in the HBO television series Treme, appearing in seasons 2, 3 and 4. He was also cast as T.K. Hazelton in director Spike Lee's film Red Hook Summer and composed and performed the Hammond B-3 organ music that was a part of the film score. Other film scores composed by Batiste include the television documentary Duke 91 & 92: Back to Back and the short film Melody of Choice. He also appears in the film Thrive by Paul Szynol.

Miscellaneous.
Batiste was included in the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 music list and was named Grand Marshal of Endymion Parade in New Orleans in 2018. He has been awarded the American Jazz Museum Lifetime Achievement Award, the Harry Chapin ASCAP Humanitarian Award and the Movado Future Legend Award. In May 2017, Batiste received an honorary degree from Salve Regina University for his musical achievements and contributions to Newport's 2014 International Jazz Day.

Batiste has been featured in campaigns for Chase Bank, Apple Watch, Lincoln Continental, and numerous fashion brands including Ralph Lauren, Barneys, Nordstrom, Frye Boots and Bonobos.

In April 2022, his album 'We Are' won Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, making Batiste the first Black artist to win the award since Herbie Hancock in 2008.

Discography
Times in New Orleans (2005)
Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art (2006)
In the Night (2008)
The Amazing Jon Batiste! (2009)
MY N.Y. EP (2011) with Stay Human
Social Music (2013) with Stay Human
The Process (2014) with Chad Smith and Bill Laswell
The Late Show EP (2016) with Stay Human
Christmas with Jon Batiste (2016)
Music of Johny Lewis (2017) with Wynton Marsalis
Hollywood Africans (2018)

Sunny Side of the Street
Jon Batiste Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street

Can't you hear the pitter-pat
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be complete

On the sunny side of the street

I used to walk in the shade with my blues on parade
But I'm not afraid, this rover's crossed over

If I never had a cent
I'd be rich as rockefeller
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street

I used to walk in the shade with them blues on parade
Now I'm not afraid, this rover has crossed over

Now if I never made one cent
I'll still be rich as rockefeller
There will be goldust at my feet

On the sunny
On the sunny, sunny side of the street

Overall Meaning

In Jon Batiste's song "Sunny Side of the Street", the lyrics describe a feeling of positivity and optimism. The singer suggests that by leaving your worries behind and allowing yourself to see the positive side of life, one can experience true happiness. The song talks about how things may have been tough in the past, possibly with the reference to walking in the shade with "Blues on parade", but the singer has now crossed over and is no longer afraid. Even if they did not have money, they would still feel rich as seeing the world through a positive lense is the greatest treasure anyone could have.

The song is quite simple and repeats the same message, which is to find the goodness in everything and be happy. However, the message is conveyed well and is still relevant today. People often forget to focus on the positive and let their worries consume them. This song reminds us to take a step towards the sunny side of the street, be grateful for what we have, and live life to the fullest.

Line by Line Meaning

Grab your coat and get your hat
Get ready to go and face the day

Leave your worries on the doorstep
Don't bring your problems with you

Life can be so sweet
Life has the potential to be enjoyable

On the sunny side of the street
Positivity and happiness can be found

Can't you hear the pitter-pat
The sound of joy is in the air

And that happy tune is your step
The happiness has an effect on how you walk

Life can be complete
A positive outlook can bring fulfillment

I used to walk in the shade with my blues on parade
I used to be sad and kept my sadness on display

But I'm not afraid, this rover's crossed over
But now I'm not scared and I've moved on

If I never had a cent
Even without money

I'd be rich as Rockefeller
I would still consider myself successful